6
I weave through the buzz of the party and finally spot Luna’s red hair like a beacon in the dark. Quickening my pace, I move towards her and tap her on the shoulder. She spins around, revealing Sam and his beautiful friend.
“There you are. I’ve been looking for you everywhere,” she says, reaching out for me. I feel my eyebrows raise. I can tell by the casual twang in her tone that she’s enjoyed a few beverages while she was looking for me everywhere, but I smile anyway and quietly step into their circle.
“Hi, Abi,” Sam says, smiling widely and offering me a beer.
I thank him as I take it from his hand, careful not to touch his fingers.
It’s a moment before I realise the bottle cap is still on it.
“Here.” His friend takes the bottle from me, wrapping his large hand around the top and, with a flex of his biceps, removes the cap.
He passes it back, we lock eyes, and he flashes his dimple-infused smile.
My knees begin to melt, and Luna puts her arm around my shoulders, stabilising me.
“This is Brooks,” Luna introduces us. I pull myself together and try to think of something to contribute to the conversation, eager not to miss my chance to speak to him.
“What are you studying?” I blurt. Usually, I take my time to think of something thoughtful and intellectual to say. The last thing I want to do is embarrass myself.
“I don’t go to school.”
“I’m sorry, I thought you lived here.”
“I do. My uncle owns the place. In exchange for rent, I help out with odd jobs around the building. I live over there.” He gestures to the furthest corner on the ground level of the courtyard.
“You hear that? He’s the handyman.” Luna winks and gives me a nudge, almost spilling her drink. I force a laugh in the hopes that it drowns out her voice and they don’t hear what she said.
“Sam, is that your Pontiac in the lot?” Luna asks, turning her attention back to Sam.
“You know your vintage cars. I’m impressed.” Brooks flashes Luna one of his smiles. A burn of jealousy begins to rise in my chest. Of course, he would be interested in Luna. “That beauty is actually mine. Sammy-boy doesn’t have a car.”
“I live in the city, and I’m busy with uni. When would I have the time to drive a car?” Sam asks, with a shrug.
“What are you studying?” Luna changes the subject, clearly wanting to focus her attention on Sam.
“I’m in my final year doing a Bachelor of Sports Science.”
“There’s no point in lying. I have no idea what that is.” Luna smiles flirtatiously. “I’m going into business. Abi is going to be a teacher.”
Sam turns his body towards mine with his eyebrows raised and a smile that tells me he wants to hear more. “Teaching sounds fun. What made you want to get into that?”
“I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. I think education is one of the most important things in a young person’s life.”
“Education isn’t everything,” Brooks says.
“I mean, look at me. I didn’t waste my time and money going to uni.
Now, I run my own team, providing IT to one of the largest brokerage firms in the city.
I’m on good money, and I don’t have any debt.
” Brooks’ eyes roam up and down my body as he speaks.
My cheeks begin to blush. I’ll have to remember to thank Luna later for convincing me to wear her clothes.
Brooks wouldn’t be looking at me like that if I were wearing my old jeans and sneakers.
“Not having to pay rent also helps with that debt-free lifestyle, hey Brooks,” Sam quips, giving his friend a playful nudge.
“Let’s see if you’re still laughing when it’s time to pay back those student loans.”
Sam lifts his hand to brush his hair from his face, revealing the bottom of his tattoo. Luna reaches her hand out to touch Sam’s arm.
“That’s a beautiful tattoo,” she says. He looks down at her hand with a soft smile.
“Thanks, it wraps around my back. I’ll show you sometime.”
Sam looks like he would have the body of an athlete.
Through his t-shirt, I can see his chiselled physique.
I look back over to Brooks, trying to make out the outline of his body through his clothing.
He catches my eye and smirks, letting me know that I’ve been caught. His eyes drift down towards my chest.
“If you ladies are cold, there’s a fire pit around the back,” Brooks offers, placing his hand on my elbow, causing electricity to shoot up my arm from his touch.
Brooks keeps his hand on me as he leads me around the back of the building, towards the warmth of a fire.
In a darkened corner behind the apartments, a small fire pit glows in the centre, surrounded by a few old logs and a couple of plastic chairs.
A tall brick wall encloses the space, creating a cosy hideaway for partygoers looking for a quiet spot to talk.
Sam and Luna settle onto one of the logs, while Brooks takes the last empty chair.
I shift my weight awkwardly, not knowing if I should continue to stand by them or make up a reason to excuse myself from this situation.
Brooks looks up at me and pats his knee.
I raise my eyebrows, not wanting to assume what his gesture means.
What if I sit on his knee and he pushes me off in front of everyone?
He probably wouldn’t want my weight to be crushing his legs anyway.
“Take a seat. You look pretty awkward just standing there.”
Feeling the alcohol course through my veins, leaving a light tingle in my head, I find the courage to take a seat on Brooks’ knee.
He wraps his arm around my hips to secure me in place and continues his conversation with Sam.
Luna shoots me a sassy wink as Sam locks eyes with me for a moment, and I’m hit with a sudden pang in my chest.
“I like these.” Brooks runs his hand up my leg towards the material of Luna’s shorts. The touch of the cold bottle clutched in his fingers shoots thunderbolts up my leg as it brushes against the inside of my thigh.
“It’s Luna’s. It’s, umm, a little small.” I tug on the material in an attempt to cover myself up.
“It looks better on you. I can tell.”
“You’d be the first person to say so.” My whole life, I have been compared to Luna by kids at school, boys, Mark, even my parents and no one has ever made me feel like I’d be their first choice. Until now.
“Your friend’s not my type. She’s a little too loud for me.” He watches out of the corner of his eye for my reaction.
The high I’m feeling from his compliment is short lived when a shrill voice cuts through the air from behind us. “Brooks, where have you been?”
We both turn at the same time to see a gorgeous blonde standing behind us with her hands on her hips and an unpleasant scowl on her face.
“Harper, there you are. I’ve been looking for you everywhere,” Brooks says flatly, rolling his eyes. He tightens his grip around my waist, with his other hand still resting on my thigh.
“Bullshit,” she says under her breath, refusing to acknowledge my presence as she maintains her glare on Brooks’ face.
“Honestly, I didn’t think you’d care where I was. You looked pretty busy the last time I saw you.”
The tension is palpable, and if it wasn’t for Brooks’ hand on my leg, I would have stood up and left the second I saw her. It’s obvious that they used to be a couple. What’s not obvious is how long they’ve been broken up.
“I’m leaving, and I need to get my stuff from your car.”
Brooks unwraps his arm from my waist and gently slides me off his knee, guiding me to take a seat back down on the chair.
“I’ll be back in a minute.” He smiles and walks off with the blonde girl following closely behind. They disappear from view as Sam puts his hand on my arm to get my attention.
“That’s Harper. They’ve had this on-and-off thing for a while. Nothing serious, but she was planning on crashing at his place tonight,” Sam offers, answering the questions that are swirling around in my mind.
If Brooks has the choice between Harper and me, I don’t like my chances.
I can see a clear picture of how the rest of my night will go.
Brooks isn’t going to return. He’ll be in his apartment with Harper, pleased that his plan to make her jealous and get her attention worked while I sit here pretending that the sting of his rejection isn’t getting to me.
I’ll try to insert myself into Sam and Luna’s conversation, but ultimately excuse myself and go back to our apartment, alone. I’ll call Mark, and…
“Hey, jump up,” Brooks’ voice approaches from behind, snapping me out of my thoughts. I stand up as he takes his seat and pulls me back onto his knee. “Wow, you’re hot.”
“Wh-what?”
“I mean, you feel hot. Your leg. The heat from the fire,” Brooks says with a laugh. I’m not sure if he’s laughing at me or the misunderstanding.
“Sure, that’s what you meant. She’s totally hot, and you know it,” Luna says loudly.
My eyes fall on the fire, hoping the distraction will calm the rising burn of embarrassment in my cheeks.
“You are, though,” Brooks whispers in my ear as he gently squeezes my thigh. “But you’re not used to hearing that, are you?” His eyes search for something in mine. I shake my head and watch his smile curl in the corners of his mouth. “Do you want to go for a walk?”
I nod sheepishly. There is nothing I have ever wanted to do more than go for a walk with him.
We stand from our seated position at the same time.
He reaches for my hand as if he does it all the time and leads me away from the warmth of the fire.
I look back at Luna, who has her knees almost touching Sam’s.
They’re huddled together, talking as if they’re telling secrets.